Shakira
Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll born February 2, 1977), She is known as 'Shakira. Shakira '''is a Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer, and model. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she began performing in school, demonstrating Latin, Arabic and rock and roll influences and belly dancing abilities. In the early 1990s, Shakira emerged in the music industry of Colombia, though she was little-known outside of the country. She rose to prominence in Latin America with her official debut studio album ''Pies Descalzos in the year of 1995. Shakira replaced Christina Aguilera for The Voice season 4 wil Christina worked on her day job as an artist. Shakira will return for Season 6. Shakira- Early Life Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia Ripoll and William Mebarak Chadid. From her mother, Nidia Ripoll, she has Spanish (Catalan and Castilian) and Italian descent. She has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage. Shakira spent hehr childhood in the city of Barranquilla, located in northern Colombia. Shakira wrote her first poem, titled "La Rosa De Cristal" ("The Crystal Rose") when she was only four years old. As Shakira was growing up, she was fascinated watching her father writing stories on his typewritier, and asked for one as a Christmas gift. Shakira got her wish at age seven and continued writing poetry. These poems eventually were created into songs. When Shakira was only two years old, an older half-brother was killed in a motorcycle accident and at the age of eight, Shakira wrote her first song, titled "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses"), which was inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses to hide his grief. Shakira says she remembers getting the call about her brother. When Shakira was four, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first heard the doumbek, a traditional drum widely used in Arabic Muisc and which accompanied belly dancing. Soon Shakira was dancing on the table, she then knew she wanted to be a performer. She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers at her Catholic school, but in the second grade was rejected for the school choir because they did not like her vibrato. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat". At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl", as she would show every Friday at school a number she had learned. "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says. Shakira's father took her to a local park to see orphans who lived there. The images stayed with her and she said to herself "one day I’m going to help these kids when I become a famous artist." Between the ages of ten and thirteen, Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogota, Ariza had Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to have Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums. Shakira's "cross-over" n 2001, Shakira crossed into the English market with her third album Laundry Service, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide; her first English single "Whenever Wherever" became the best selling single of 2002. Her success was continued with her fourth and fifth albums Oral Fixation''https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fijaci%C3%B3n_Oral_Vol._1vol. 1'' and Oral Fication vol''. 2. '' In 2005, the latter of which spawned the best-selling song of the 2000s, "Hips Dont Lie". Shakira's sixth album She Wolf (2009) gained critical praise for her writing skills, and sold 2 million copies internationally. Her seventh album Sale el Sol in the year of 2010 returned to styles of her Latin heritage, and sold 4 million copies worldwide. However, Shakira suffered from her relationship with her label Epic Records since 2009, which resulted in a lack of promotion and investment towards both of the latter releases. Her official song for the 2010 FIFA world cup "Waka Waka" became the biggest-selling World Cup song ever. Fun-Facts Shakira can speak five different languages including- Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic and Portuguese Shakira has more political and societal influcence than any other femal artist in the world MORE TO COME!